Returning an item question

[kameti]

First of all, apologising in advance for asking a question that must have been asked so many times before. The more i read the more confused i am, so i'm hoping you'll have the patience to guide me through the returns process.

On 29th August i used B.I.N. to buy S.B. sheets , standard delivery, and immediately paid for through Paypal.

They were posted to me from Victoria  on the 2nd September, and i received them in Perth on the 11th September.

The sheets i received are Q.S. and while, according to the price tag on the back, are 3 times the price of the ones i paid for, i cannot use them.

On 11th September i contacted the buyer through Ebay to say the size is incorrect and i'd like the correct bedsheets.

On 13th September i received a polite apology with the following request:

'' You can send it back and we can refund you the postage.

Once received we will send you the correct size.

Let me know when you send back the item and the postage cost. ''

Is the above the correct procedure and i'm guessing i will have to return them with tracking?

How can i prove i actually sent the unopened sheets in the package?

Should i be going through Paypal?

Given the time everything has taken, now to return them and then to wait on receiving correct bedsheets, will i still be able to eventually leave F.B. for the seller?

Again sorry for these questions, my first time doing this,  and i really want to get it right. Thanks 🙂

[cathyjoyjoy]

Wow ........ and even a "lol" to conclude.

[bakeandfry]

Australian consumer law state for a refund you are responsable for returning the item unless it is something huge, like a large screen tv, then the seller is responsable to organise for it, i really dont care if ebay says keep the item, its not ebays item for them to say that, and if ebay does say keep the item im shure they would then be claiming that it is there item, voiding all rights on behalf of the seller, but we all know ebay doesn't claim ownership of anybodys items.

[kameti]

Yes, lol to conclude because the seller really does need to prepay postage, as community here advised me,  so these sheets can be returned to him. I've never opened them so seller will have them back in the same pristine condition they were received by me.

The  '' i guess i keep the sheets'' was said in fun, as i really wouldn't consider keeping them.

Am not leaving fb for seller because i really don't know what to say about this whole buying experience. Just very happy and relieved  i can now go ahead and buy the correct sized sheets for the person they were always intended for

[kameti]

bakeandfry, then the advice i got through this community is incorrect? I should return them to the seller without expecting prepaid postage from seller, and possibly take the loss of postage costs? ( These are way heavieer than the ones i originally paid postage for ) But that is the law?

Ebay did not say to keep the sheets!

[bakeandfry]

No im not saying the advice was incorrect, i based my reply to what you wrote, first was asking was the response you got right, second asking for return label, third sayimg you opened a not as described the same day you posted your question, and finally you saying you rang ebay to sort out the postage issue.
from that i gathered that a dispute was currently with ebay, and if ebay did not say to keep the sheets, why say you were?

[kameti]

hi bakeandfry, i am really really confused.

According to your previous post, ''Australian consumer law state for a refund you are responsable for returning the item unless it is something huge.''  Does that mean   i should have disregarded advice received here re expecting prepaid postage,  because  by law it is my responsibility to return them even if i don't receive prepaid postage first?

This is a very important question for me. I don't want to be waiting on seller sending the postage first if i shouldn't even be doing that.

Is opening a ''not as described' opening an Ebay dispute? I didn't know it was in dispute. There was never any dispute between the seller and i about my  receiving an  incorrect item.

Under Purchases there is a drop down list and i clicked on 'Return this Item'. For reason why i had to then click on ' Item not as described'.  As far as i know i was clicking  on that to let the seller know i hadn't received the correct item and wanted to return it.  Seller then contacted me asking me to return the item and seller would then refund postage.  I came to this community to double check the information seller gave me to  return the item is correct.

2/ Majority advice was to ask for prepaid  postage, so i asked the seller twice and I was twice refused.

3/  Community forum members then  advised to open a MBG/dispute. I've no idea how to open an MGB/dispute and was too embarrassed to ask community members another newbie tquestion,   so i referred back to what i'd already done re Item Not Received  and there was a thing saying did i want Ebay to resolve any issue  with the return, so i requested Ebay to resolve the prepaid postage issue so that i could then return the item whichever way they said.  This was online, not through any call to them.

4/ Although I requested  prepaid postage,  Ebay chose to give me a full refund.

5/ I never said Ebay said to keep the sheets. I said, '' I guess i keep the sheets'' which is a stupid joke i wish i'd never made.

[bakeandfry]

Opening a not as described with ebay on the "return this item" on ebay is a dispute through the MBG, the advice you got from members is correct, i know you asked for a return label and seller offered for you to post and to let them know of postage cost, photo of recipt should be enough for ebay and the seller to see you did return the item, ebay's system is very flawed and should not of refunded you untill the item was returned, and as for the joke about keeping the item, my response was due to your reply that you were waiting on the seller to pay for the return, i mean you already have your money back, you have an item that does not belong to you.

[fixnwear]

kameti

5/ I never said Ebay said to keep the sheets. I said, '' I guess i keep the sheets'' which is a stupid joke i wish i'd never made

So if you don't wish to keep the sheets how exactly did you imagine you were going to return them?

And while on the phone to Ebay, after they gave you a full refund did you happen to mention that you still have the sheets which is no longer your property while reciving the money back? And did they realize that is a criminal offence, to hold onto someone's else's goods?

I would be most interested to hear what was their answer to that statement.

[lyndal1838]

Your original question asked about returning the sheets to the seller with just the seller's word that he would pay the return postage.

In the very first answer I suggested that he was being co-operative and to take a chance and return as he asked.

At no stage did you say you had opened a dispute....that makes a huge difference.  You have given the seller an automatic defect so he is hardly likely to be very co-operative now and explains why he later refused to send the prepaid label.

Had you just returned the sheets as asked the seller would have had his sheets back with no defect. But as soon as the dispute was opened it was automatic defect and the fact that ebay did the refund reinforces that defect as the dispute was settled without seller resolution.

You can be quite sure that the seller has now blocked you from buying from him again.

Just because ebay "forgets" to tell you to return the sheets doesn't make it right to keep them.  Sellers are still reporting ebay to the Australian authorities for this as it is not their place to give away goods that they do not own.

[kameti]

Omg. In reply to above posts....

I didn't know i was opening a dispute. I thought clicking on 'item not as described' was how buyers let sellers know the wrong item had arrived

I never called Ebay and spoke to them on the phone.

Of course Ebay knew i still have the sheets, i was asking them to resolve the issue re returning the item. Either the seller or i to pay for the postage so i could return them

If the seller blocks me, so be it . I've obviously made a mistake in thinking in the first place that 'item not as described' was the buyers way of letting a seller know wrong thing had arrived. I certainly did not  know it was some black Ebay mark against a seller!!

I have never had any intention of keeping these sheets. I'm no thief! I have had a really good buyer - seller relationship with every seller i've bought from.

As you are already aware, i was quite happy to return the item in the hope of getting a refund on postage later, until i was advised otherwise.

Lastly, again, Ebay never told me to keep them, and nor do i intend doing so.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh